In the past, I’ve blogged about the lost art of writing letters but never really put it to the test. Inspired partly by last spring’s BBC article I’ve decided to take up the challenge of writing and mailing at least one item during each day in February. This is the fourth annual Month of Letters … Continue reading A Month Of Letters
Month: January 2015
Friday Photos #5: Walking Up (and Down) Rang Hill
Phuket Town is surrounded by hills and water. The two main hills to the north of downtown are Khao To Sae with the television towers (also nicknamed “Monkey Hill”) and Khao Rang (khao meaning “hill”) with its restaurants and viewpoint. This is the view of Rang Hill from my apartment’s balcony. I hadn’t been to … Continue reading Friday Photos #5: Walking Up (and Down) Rang Hill
Philatelic Pursuits: January 2015
January was yet another philatelic-filled month and I added quite a few stamps to my various collections. Most were obtained online and I made two trips to the Phuket Philatelic Museum to buy new Thai stamps. I received a flurry of postcards at the start of the month but, alas, no further Christmas cards. I … Continue reading Philatelic Pursuits: January 2015
World Local Post Day 2015
Today is World Local Post Day, held annually during the last week of January since 1989. A local post is defined by Wikipedia as “ a mail service that operates only within a limited geographical area, typically a city or a single transportation route. Historically, some local posts have been operated by governments, while others, … Continue reading World Local Post Day 2015
Friday Photos #4: Monkey Seeing
This has been a strange week. I had two days off in a row which is a huge rarity, even more so as they were mid-week. During this “free time” I managed to get caught up on a couple of long-term projects and get started on one or two others. Unfortunately, I wasn’t motivated to … Continue reading Friday Photos #4: Monkey Seeing
Phuket Postcard Options
I’ve been writing about my incoming postcards on the “Please, Mr. Postman!” blog for more than a month now but I haven’t mentioned anything about those I’ve been using for outgoing mail from my home here in Phuket, Thailand. Until fairly recently, the card options around Phuket Town have been fairly limited. Most shops carry … Continue reading Phuket Postcard Options
Friday Photos #3: English Camp on Cape Panwa
It’s been a tiring week as I’ve spent Monday through Thursday working at an English camp on Phuket’s rural Cape Panwa. Thus, the theme for this installment of Friday Photos. Conducting these camps is strenuous by itself but I’ve also been teaching my regular evening lessons all week as well. What is an English camp? … Continue reading Friday Photos #3: English Camp on Cape Panwa
TH-1059: National Children’s Day
Issue Number: TH-1059 Issue Name: National Children's Day 2015 Commemorative Stamps Issue Date: 2015-01-10 Denomination: 3 baht (5 designs) Designer: Mr. Thaneth Ponchalwong (Thailand Post Company Ltd.) Printer: Thai British Security Printing Public Company Limited Printing Process: Lithography, multi-colored Quantity of Stamps: 700,000 per design Sheet Composition: 10 stamps per sheet (different designs – 2 … Continue reading TH-1059: National Children’s Day
Friday Photos #2: The Doors of Old Phuket Town
I’m fascinated by the Sino-Portuguese architecture that dominates the Old Town area of Phuket. There are basically two types to these old homes – the ang mo lau, or “detached” houses of the extremely wealthy mining families – and the row houses – tiem chu – which had their origin in Malacca. The European-style row … Continue reading Friday Photos #2: The Doors of Old Phuket Town
A Stampy Start to the Year
It has, indeed, been a “stampy” start to 2015, to use an adjective coined by one of my favorite online collector forums. Not only did I have a few days of holiday time during which I could sort, scan and catalogue many of my stamps and postcards but the first mail delivery of the year … Continue reading A Stampy Start to the Year
Mark Joseph Jochim 